The 4-6-3-4-6-4 ride (Pt 1)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So what does this picture say to you? A group of not-so-young bikers with their iron steeds at the Welcome to Phuket sign…

For me, it was a sense of achievement, the satisfaction knowing that have I done it too. For others, it could be a similar feeling, or it could be a sigh of relief after having travelled over a thousand kilometres which lasted 2 days to get here! Mind you, we are no longer the sprightly young studs we were years ago. Nowadays, my back aches, my joints are stiff and sitting on the bike for extended hours does not help.

All this started about 2 months ago when I decided to ride to Phuket for the 15th Annual Bike Week and to experience the Songkran celebration, after having read about the water festival in the local newspaper some time ago. Songkran was being celebrated just after the Phuket Bike week.

Researching into the meaning of Songkran, I found that it is also the new year celebration and the throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. For the young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.

The use of chalk is also very common having originated in the chalk used by monks to mark blessings.

Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. The water is meant as a symbol of washing all of the bad away and is sometimes filled with fragrant herbs.

After reading this, I was eager to experience this celebration, so I started conversations, exchanges of emails and sms with my fellow bikers and soliciting their support to join the ride. There were a lot of uncertainties like who can make it, how much time was needed, where to stay, etc. By the time we got thru the discussions and firmed up the details on who was going and when, most of the hotels were getting filled fast because there were 2 events that brought tourists and bikers to Phuket, i.e. the Bike Week and Songkran.

But as always, we have a group of wonderful fellow bikers who were more than willing to share their expertise and experience. Kwa was the person who volunteered without being asked, by calling travel agents, searching the internet and liaising directly with the hotels in Thailand and got us beautiful rooms at the Raya Buri hotel in Patong, just 5 mins walk to the beach. And we even had free WiFi to go with the price too.

So here we have 4 riders, made up of Kwa (Versys), Lonerider (X9), Skyrider (EN500, CM) and myself (Versys)…all pumped up with expectations and ready for the 10th – 14th Apr ride. But knowing that getting from KL to Phuket is a 16 hrs iron-butt ride, we looked towards Lonerider for his views as he has travelled into Thailand more times that any of us 3 other riders. It was decided that the group should break the journey into 2 days with 8hrs ride per day. What this meant was that we needed to get accommodation just across the border, probably at Sadao on the first night and to book similar accommodation on the way back from Phuket, preferably at Hat Yai since it is a bigger town compared to Sadao. Unfortunately, we were not able to book any room at Hat Yai for the return journey as the hotels were all fully booked for Songkran. Still, we decided to try our luck when the time comes. Or we can stay at any small town close to the border, or even cross the border into Malaysia for a worst case scenario. The forward journey was not much of a concern for we were sure we would be able to get hotel rooms at Sadao.

Then 10th Apr arrived. We gathered at the Klang JJ Esso station at 7am and started the journey, Lonerider, Kwa and me. We stopped at the Sg Besi R&R to meet up with Skyrider and had breakfast there. Soon, we were on the way. After a brief stop to fill up, we arrived at Butterworth at about noon. Lonerider had some errants to run so we decided to visit Mega Fortune, just to nosey around. Then Lonerider came back and we had lunch nearby.

After lunch, it was a straight ride to Changloon to get the Thai insurance for our bikes and for some currency exchanges. We filled up just before the border because petrol is more expensive in Thailand…trying to squeeze every sen’s worth of petrol while we can. While we were filling up, it started to rain and arriving at the at the border, we had to queue up in the rain at the bike lane as the Malaysia immigration processes our passport. We were all drenched to the bones.Once we were clear from the Malaysian side, we had to spend about 2hrs at the Thai side because their Customs system had a printer problem and there were lots of bikers, quite a lot of them from Singapore. By the time we got thru the Thai Immigration and Customs, we were literally in Danok, Sadao. A short time later, we found a new hotel with rooms available, and WiFi too. Checked in, change out of our wet clothes and soon it’s time for dinner. By then the rain had stopped and we walked into town. Lonerider showed us a reasonable joint for dinner and I noticed that the it was opposite the “Govenor Office”. Wondered to myself if the Govenor ever dines here. After dinner, we went backt to the hotel as it was starting to rain again. Good thing the hotel has a massage parlour. Can you guess how we spent the evening? Ahem…This is a no-brainer. I had a 2hr massage. The girl scrubbed lots of dirt off my back too.

11th Apr – the sun was up and bright. Had breakfast and we started towards the Hat Yai – Pattalung junction. Waited at the petrol station ‘cos Lonerider had some friends who can show us the way. Spent about 30 mins waiting and 2 bikes arrived.

Now the 4 became 6 riders! Comprende? The 2 riders were Chan (Caponord) and Yong (Fireblade) who took the lead and Lonerider volunteering to ride sweeper. The six of us headed towards Trang and arrived there just before noon. On the way the Chan-Yong team was really squeezing the throttle and I was trying hard to keep up with them. We stopped at a park which was at the entry point into the Trang town for a short breather. But then we found that Chan’s Caponord could not start. A few of us helped him to push the bike up & down to trying to push start but the engine just refused to kick. Finally, suspecting that it’s the battery, Yong who could converse in Thai, used Lonerider’s X9 and went into town looking for a replacement. A while later, he came back with a mechanic who had to verify that the battery will fit the bike, but he needed to go back to charge it before it can be used! So we waited and waited for the battery to be charged., and someone decided to snooze, but hunger soon overtook us…so we walked across the road to a small shop for lunch. After lunch, we continue to wait for the mechanic to return with the charged battery. Finally it arrived and was fitted to the bike. Overall, we had waited for more than 2 hrs. The convoy was ready to roll, but Chan needed to fill up. The Chan-Yong team lead us thru the Trang town looking for RON95 petrol. The place looked like maze to me and the leading team took us thru some red lights and stopped when the light was green. Scary but we had to follow the lead or else be lost? And I was thinking to myself that it was acts like this that gave bikers a bad name and I was doing it! Eventually, we found what we were looking for. Filled up and we were now really ready to roll, 3 hrs after we had come into town.

Moving out from Trang - Yong and Chan again were the faster ones and they went on ahead leading. Lonerider decided to ride up front as well this time around. Then it rained. Kwa, Skyrider and I decided to stop and put on our rain gear. Soon, we 3 were travelling on our own, frequently to find Yong waiting at the road side up ahead, to ensure that we were on the right track. Once we passed him, he will pass us a little later and repeat the whole process numerous times just to make sure that we 3 were OK. Apart from that, we could not see the other riders. By now, we were really keeping our eyes on the passing road signs, reading whatever little English words that were available; just to make sure that we are heading in the right direction. It should be Trang- Krabi-Phang Nga-Phuket. At about 4pm, we rode thru Krabi town and decided to top up on fuel because we were not sure how far we will need to travel or should we loose our way, etc. But I guess it was a “straight” road from Trang to Phuket, except for the turn that we needed to take, which we got it right the first time. It was at this junction that Lonerider was waiting for us and we were 4 riders again. Very soon, we started to see the word Phuket on the road signs. So, Phuket here we come!

Crossing the bridge from the mailnad to Phuket Island, we came across the "welcome sign" (above) and decided to stop here for some pix. Then we rode a little more and got a surprise. The Bike Week organisers had set up a "break point" for riders to rest and we met up with the Chan-Yong team again. Not sure where they detoured to cos' we arrived at this point before them. We are now 6 again.

At the break point, we were given cold mineral water, bread with margarine (?) and sugar. Simple fare but I loved it, esp. after a long ride. It's the simple things in life that matters most, and this was one of them!

Continuing the journey, we had to ride thru Phuket town before we can get to our hotel at Patong... and my thanks to Kwa who had done an excellent job of booking the hotel for us.


… to be continued - IHVR